Films that have stalled

Green Lantern

Despite a truly awful reception from fans and critics alike, the Ryan Reynolds-starring Green Lantern film from 2011 may not have killed the Green Lantern franchise. As recently as April 2013, WB was said to be looking for replacements for director Martin Campbell, although WB will likely opt to reboot the character. David S. Goyer has confirmed that Man of Steel is the first film in what will become a shared DC universe, and that effectively negates the story in GreenLantern.

Dwayne Johnson may appear as the green Lantern John Stewart in either Justice League or Man of Steel 2. That doesn’t necessarily mean he will be the star of a Green Lantern film, but if true, Stewart would be part of the universe already.

Justice League Dark

One of the more unusual DC projects being discussed is Guillermo del Toro’s Justice League Dark, formerly known as Heaven Sent. The proposed film will star several of DC’s more obscure characters, and focus on the magical side of the DC universe. The rumored plot would focus on John Constantine of the Hellblazer comics recruiting a team that includes: The Demon Etrigan/Jason Blood, Deadman, and the Swamp Thing. The comic also features Zatanna, Madame Xanadu, and Frankenstein.

Del Toro’s enthusiasm may or may not be enough. He recently said that he is ready to present the outline to WB, he has a screenwriter lined up, and he could begin work as soon as he completes his next project, Crimson Peak. Of course, he is also producing a TV show about vampire based on the The Strain book trilogy that Chuck Hogan co-wrote, and he’s committed to writing both Pinocchio and Beauty and the Beast.Hellboy 3 may also still happen, and del Toro is hoping to bring back his H.P. Lovecraft adaptation, At the Mountains of Madness. The international success of Pacific Rim has also generated talk of a sequel, and del Toro claims the script for that is nearly done.

It seems unlikely that WB would greenlight a spin-off of the Justice League before releasing the Justice League film itself, but it could still happen. Del Toro has said he would work the film into whatever existing continuity DC and WB would like.

Y the Last Man

As with Fables, the Y the Last Man series from Vertigo went through many iterations in Hollywood that threatened to kill the project. It seemed to finally be moving towards pre-production after Dan Trachtenberg was hired to direct and David Goyer was attached as a producer, but the film seems to have stalled.

Y: The Last Man has not had an easy time getting to this point. The film rights were first purchased in 2007. Since then numerous people have been attached, several drafts of the screenplay have been turned in, and the property was also considered for adaptation into a TV series. As of September 2012, writers Mason Novick and Jake Weiner turned in a screenplay that New Line Cinema (who is also owned by WB) was said to be happy with, and production was supposed to begin later in 2013.